The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Mirrors are used in vehicular applications to provide an operator with convenient information regarding the environment surrounding a vehicle. When the vehicle is stationary or in a parking environment, mirrors provide information regarding the space in which the vehicle can maneuver, such as the location of a curb or other parked cars. When a vehicle is in motion on a roadway, mirrors provide an operator with information regarding lanes of traffic behind and next to the vehicle. Such information is especially important to a vehicle on a roadway in instances when the operator desires to change lanes, maneuvering the vehicle into an area which another vehicle may already occupy. While an operator can turn his or her head and directly view the area into which the vehicle is expected to travel, removing one's eyes from the road and turning the head to look behind the vehicle necessarily involves a disconnection of the driver from conditions in front of the vehicle. Additionally, driving can be a complicated process, with an operator making numerous decisions and adjustments in a short period of time, and quickly available information can be critical to the operator. It is therefore important and desirable for an operator to possess, in a readily discernable and non-disorienting form, as much information about the road environment as possible.
Mirrors are known to be adjusted manually, either through the direct application of force to the mirror, which is located on a freely adjusting base, for example operating as a ball-and-socket type pivot, or by a joystick operated, robotic control system, with the operator utilizing the joystick to provide signals to a side mirror actuation assembly. In either method of mirror adjustment, the biases and comfort tendencies of the operator directly impact the adjustment of the mirror.
Vehicles frequently utilize a three mirror configuration, with an interior rearview mirror being located centrally in the passenger compartment, suspended over the substantial center of the instrument panel, and a side mirror located on each side of the vehicle. Each mirror provides a field of vision or an image reflecting some visual scope of an area. Such a three mirror configuration provides a field of vision directly behind the vehicle, viewable through the rearview mirror, and a field of vision on each side of the vehicle, viewable through the side mirrors. While the mirrors provide much information about the environment surrounding the vehicle, such a configuration inevitably leaves gaps in the region surrounding the vehicle as areas not viewable through the mirrors. These gaps are known as blind spots. Methods are known to cover or capture within fields of vision blind spots left in the usual three mirror configuration. One known method to cover such blind spots is through the use of convex mirrors or mirrors with an outwardly curved reflective surface, such that the field of vision provided to the operator is expanded. Known methods to utilize convex mirrors include insetting within an existing mirror a small domed mirror or providing a separate convex mirror on either side of the vehicle in addition to the known flat side mirrors. Additionally, it is known to utilize a slightly convex or curved mirror in place of the known flat side mirrors to expand the lateral fields of vision provided by the side mirrors. While convex or curved mirrors of known configurations do expand fields of vision, the information provided to the operator is a distorted, sometimes severely distorted, visual representation. As a result, utilization of convex mirrors has been a mixed or unrealized solution to resolving problems posed by blind spots. Additionally, vehicles are known to utilize cameras and view screens to display additional information to the operator. However, such systems add cost, can be disorienting to the operator, and are similarly limited as a previously described mirror in the range of information which can be provided to the operator. As a result, the three mirror configuration remains in wide use in vehicles, representing a reliable means to provide information quickly and clearly to an operator in driving conditions.
Manual adjustment of mirrors by the operator is known to include particular weaknesses inherent to biases and comforting tendencies of the operator making the manual adjustment. One known bias or tendency in operators exhibited in the manual adjustment of mirrors is a tendency to capture in the side mirror fields of vision a portion of the side of the vehicle in the field of vision. The result of the tendency is that blinds spots existing to the outside of the side mirror fields of vision are enlarged. Conventionally accepted preferred fields of vision for side mirrors include the region directly along the side of the vehicle without wasting any field of vision on the side of the vehicle. Different specific embodiments of this preferred field of vision may exist. However, enlarged blind spots created by the above tendency to bias the mirrors inboard occur in vision zones particularly important to information useful in making decisions during lane changes.
Manual mirror adjustment includes another disadvantage, in that an operator, upon entering a vehicle shared with other operators, must take the time to adjust each mirror to the particular location or position of the operator's eyes. Different eyes positions based upon factors such as operator height, posture, and seat configuration preference require different mirror adjustment angles to accurately display the desired fields of vision. Operators are known to disregard mirror adjustment angles or set the angles haphazardly due to the time required to set all three mirrors accurately. Advantages would be therefore be apparent in a method to quickly and reliably automatically set mirror adjustment angles, removing operator biases and tendencies and removing from operator duties the careful adjustment of all three mirrors.